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First up, Danny writes in to ask: Jim, Any reason that you know of why Pixar started skimping on their DVD packages? Up to and including " The Incredibles ," no company did the medium justice better than Pixar. But the discs for " Cars " and " Rataouille " (which I have an advanced copy of) are pathetic...

It was the super-secret holiday movie that you weren't supposed to know about. Until Bob Hoskins -- in a July 4th interview with EmpireOnline -- revealed that ... "... ( Robert Zemeckis ) is going to make A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey . He wants me to play Mr Fezziwig. He's doing in...

As a direct result of some of the "Ratatouille" -related pieces that I've posted on JHM over the past few weeks, I have received a number of ... er ... colorful messages from Pixar fans recently. Here's one of the more family-friendly examples. Which came from Patty T. of Haines City, FL : Why must you...

Okay. I admit it. Maybe -- just maybe -- the folks at Walt Disney Studios actually do know what they are doing. Case in point: " Ratatouille ." When this Brad Bird film only sold $47 million worth of tickets over its opening weekend (Which was at least 20% less than the $60 million that industry experts...

First up, Kevin writes in to say: I was just wondering, how do Disney executives feel about the Wiggles joining up with Six Flags for the " Wiggles World " theme areas in their parks? Is this a sign that the Wiggles and Disney may be parting company soon? Kevin Dear Kevin -- Nope. You have to understand...

Over the past six months, JHM has featured a number of stories that talked about the Walt Disney Company's concerns about " Ratatouille ." How the marketing department at the studio has been struggling to find just the right way to promote this new Brad Bird film. (Don't believe me? Then check out these...

Earlier this week, Perry T. sent me the following e-mail : Jim, Are you as sick as I am about how the Imagineers keep forcing characters into older attractions at the Disney theme parks? Just in the past six months, we've had that new " Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor " show replace the Magic Kingdom 's old...

This past Tuesday afternoon, the news traveled around the Disney lot at lightning speed. PAs saw it displayed on their pagers, while executives read all about it on their Blackberrys. Sharon Morrill -- the long-time president of DisneyToon Studios -- was out. Morrill -- who (it's said) had made billions...

You know what's really striking about Andreas Deja ? Not that he's such an accomplished animator, the talent behind such memorable Disney characters as Gaston in " Beauty & the Beast ," Jafar in " Aladdin ," Scar in " The Lion King ," the title character in " Hercules " as well as one of the title...

How many of you remember " Primeval ," that "R" rated horror flick that Walt Disney Studios released through its seldom-used Hollywood Pictures arm back in January ? Copyright 2007 Hollywood Pictures Company. All Rights Reserved Obviously, this isn't the sort of movie that Mickey usually makes. But given...

Okay. Given that " Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End " sold more than $114 million worth of tickets over its opening weekend, it only stands to reason that this Gore Verbinski film would see some sort of drop-off in business over its second weekend in domestic release, right ? That said, no one...

Monday, September 17, 1979 is a day that lives in infamy. At least for the folks at Disney Feature Animation. You see, that was the day that Don Bluth , Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy suddenly resigned from the Mouse House to form their own animation studio, Aurora. And over the four days, nine other...

Back in the old days, when an animator had trouble visualizing what a particular prop and/or problematic character looked like from a certain angle ... Well, the usual solution to this problem was that that artist then had to construct a model. So that they could then literally see things from a different...

There is this rather brutal business-related saying. Which -- at various different times -- has been attributed to Gore Vidal , Genegis Khan , Larry Ellison , David Merrick and Attila the Hun . "It is not enough that I succeed. My enemies must fail." Now, given that I know that several executives at...